After Life Season 3 (2022) Review 

This show has been going on for a few years now and the third and final season of After Life is on Netflix and here is my review for it. The premise of the season once again sees Tony trying to live a happier life after the tragic passing of his wife. 

Main Character

Ricky Gervais stars, writes and directs this show and he has always been great as the character of Tony. There is a real raw emotion to the performance and he is entertaining to watch but you also do care about him as well. You can tell the real passion he has for the show and his performance and he is easily the best part of the show. 

Supporting Characters

Tom Basden plays his boss and he hasn't always been my favourite character but I actually thought their relationship worked this season and seeing the complete contrast between the two of them allowed for some actual character development. The same goes for Tony Way as Lenny, he has always been an easy person for Gervais to bully but there seems to be more there this season and it allows for more characterisation which is pretty well done. But some of the characters are just unbearable on the show, they are either not funny or just really annoying. The cast is way too large and certain characters from the previous seasons just disappear without much explanation. 

Story

Tony's emotional story is the real heart of the show and I like how it isn't as obvious as would be expected. It feels quite real and a guy that is really suffering and tries to find his own way of dealing with it. But there are way too many supporting characters that get more attention this season and it just does not work for me. Luckily the best episode is the finale and I must say the show does an excellent job of finishing in a great way. 

Script

The script has some really effective dramatic dialogue and moments. The finale in particular does so much to make you care and I got to be honest I was moved by the emotion that was on display. But for a show that is meant to be comedic, I didn't really laugh at all and the show feels like it is really funny but for me it really misses the mark. 

Style 

The show is well filmed and as I say when it focuses on the more emotional and dramatic moments it really works and hits high levels. But the pacing isn't great, the show doesn't take long to watch but there is too much filler here then is necessary. 

Overall

Overall, After Life Season 3 is an above average final season. It nails its finale but has other issues, if you are a fan of the show then you will be happy, but it won't bring in new viewers. 

Rating - 6/10

After Life Season 2 (2020) Review

After Life Season 2 (2020) Review

 After watching the first season of the show I have now had the chance to catch up on the new second season of After Life and here is my review for it. The premise of the season sees Tony attempting to be happy and move on with his life with his relationships with his friends. 

Main Character

Ricky Gervais is back as Tony and I thought he once again did a really great job, he has less crazy and insulting lines but he nails it with the dramatic side of his character. You see even though he is trying to move on he struggles which is realistic for a person, it would have been the most unrealistic thing if after the first season finale he was fine and had completley moved on. He is still pretty funny and is for sure a more likeable character this season so he has that and Gervais does a great job here.

Supporting Characters

Honestly one of the bigger weaknesses of the first season was that of the supporting characters and I thought it was worse this season. Tom Basden as Matt gets more to do as his marriage is failing but you are never really given a reason to care about it and his performance isn't good enough to make you care. There are some great british comics on this show such as Joe Wilkinson & Roisin Conaty and they are paired up but again there isn't enough given for you to get invested and even though their natural humour helps a bit it wasn't enough for me. Then the rest of the crew in the newsroom are back and literally none are given enough time to develop as a character, there is some potential with the character of Sandy but the show again doesn't give you enough to care. I know I said I wanted to see more of the supporting characters and we do this season but I wanted a few more episodes to give them more screen time and the show fails to do that. 

Story

Just like the first season the strength of the story is that of Gervais character, he really goes through plenty this season and it is nice to see him in more of this friendly guise then last season as it does feel like a natural character progression. Again there is more of the supporting characters but I don't really care about any of their stories as they just weren't very interesting to me and at the end of last season some stories are set up but just reset for the new season such as the potential romance which didn't work for me. 

Script

The script has much better drama this season, Gervais character does a great job in making you care about his emotional plight and especially in the last episode which really makes you care. The one thing about this season is that it isn't as funny, it focuses more on cringe comedy and for me it just wasn't fun to watch and was a better show when it focused on the emotional moments. 

Style

The show does a good job in using the style to make you care about Tony's plight and depression, you see him trying to get better and we are there with him hoping he can do it. The problem for me is the pacing of the show, by trying to focus on so many characters and story in only 6 thirty minute episodes isn't enough to make you interested in it. 

Overall

Overall, again I just don't get the hype for this show, for me this season is worse then the first one it is a very average season of television and I am not excited for a 3rd season which I am sure we are set to get. 

Rating - 5/10 

After Life Season 1 (2019) Review

After Life Season 1 (2019) Review

 With the 2nd season of this show being released recently I thought I would go back and rewatch the first season of After Life and here is my review. The premise of the season sees a man become suicidal after the death of his wife going through and trying to find a reason to live. 

Main Character

This show was a personal project of Ricky Gervais with him starring, writing and directing and I thought he did a very good job. You can tell his passion for his character, and there is a nice development from the first episode to the last episode, he also has some really funny lines especially when he is being confrontational about things that we all think about but are too shy to say to people. You can tell he is a character in grieving and even though some things come across as abusive which i'll get to later he does a good job with the material andmakes you have sympathy for the character. 

Supporting Characters

This for me is a mixed bag, some of the characters are performed well such as Gervais' boss and his phsychiatrist but the problem was for me is that we never spend enough time with these characters to really care about them. Everything is shown through Gervais' character point of view so we find other characters irritating because he does and as none of them really have there own thing developed it hurts the characters, though the performers do decent jobs and try it is just the writing that hurts.

Story

The story is pretty emotional, you see this guy at the end of his rope in contrast to the majority of the other character characters are trying to help, it is a pretty predictable plot but I thought it was well done and even though it is predictable it is handled well enough. The main issue I have with the story is the amount of people that he comes across, it feels like there are too many people, plus it feels like there are times at the beginning of the season where Gevais is just abusive and mean to other characters for no real reason and it takes him from a griever to just an unlikeable person. 

Script

The script did make me laugh quite a bit, it's comedy is quite well handled. The drama is well executed and make you care about the main character and the story that he has throughout. However, I thought this show run into an issue, the script mentions suicide so much that it felt like Gervais was just postering and I never actually felt like he was actually going to commit Suicide. Then onto those scenes that come across as bullying and abusive, it just isn't a good look for the character and it harms the earlier parts of the show. 

Style

The style of the show is fine, it is paced really well at being 30 minutes long and 6 episodes it does enough to keep you interested without you getting bored or sick of it. I do feel like if the show wants to focus on more of the side characters in the future it would maybe either need longer episodes or a few more to get all the content in. The only thing about the style is that with everything beeing shown through our main protagonist it feels like every other character gets undercut when there was definitley potential for some interesting storytelling with some of the other players. 

Overall

Overall, I don't really get the hype for this show, it is a fine first season with a good lead performance and a dramatic story but the rest of the departments are a let down and I guess I just didn't get invested in the show enough, hopefully the 2nd season is an improvement for me. 

Rating - 6/10